Obama and his cigarettes

Our own Greg Veiss: You Tube Hunter, pointed me to this great piece on Obama and his smoking on Slate. It's a little old, but it's an intriguing question: If the Democrat's superstar drops the habit, will he lose his golden voice? From the piece:

Smoking over time transforms a person's voice by thickening and drying out the vocal chords"¦ David Witsell, who directs Duke University's Voice Care Center, notes that the nodules on Johnny Cash's vocal cords that stemmed in part from his smoking habit helped create his unique sound. "Many famous voices in history have pathologies that are part of their vocal signatures," Witsell says. But Obama's semisecret weapon amounts to a double-edged sword. After all, what sort of successful Democratic politician smokes nowadays?

Fascinating! The piece goes on to talk about how Obama's smoothly side-stepped questions about the habit, and how quitting could affect his mellow tone. I'm guessing, though, if he makes a pledge to quit, and gets Americans to join him (Kirstie Allie-style), he could muster even more popularity. In any case, election season is my third favorite sporting event, after March Madness and the World Cup. and I'm ready to see some action. Click here for the Slate piece. Thanks Greg!